


Awkward and glorious

by orphan_account



Series: None [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Critical Role Relationship Week, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-25 03:43:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14968376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: They don’t like being alone, so they’re awkward and glorious together.





	Awkward and glorious

**Author's Note:**

> This one took me longer, I have honestly no idea what I did.

Keyleth had always had problems finding friends. High School didn’t change that at all. People used to think she was weird, and maybe she really was. Maybe there was a reason behind her always being alone. Due to not attending middle school and being homeschooled, she also was a bit lost. She had read some books, but had considered the division of the students in different groups that would define them instead of their personalities an exaggeration and a method to make the stories more interesting. Sadly, it was a simple reality.

Keyleth had soon discovered that there were the jocks, the nerds, the emo kids, the nice kids, the drama club, the artists and the musicians. She didn’t see herself in any of those groups. She was too smart and not athletic enough for the jocks, but too athletic and not smart enough for the nerds. She didn’t understand the emo kids and could have been a part of the nice kids, wouldn’t she always be clumsy with her words and accidentally insult someone. For the drama club, the artists and the musicians, she was way too introvert and not talented enough. And yes, she was aware that she was thinking in stereotypes.

The first days of school, she tried not to attract any attention and succeeded. However, she also didn’t really pay attention. She stayed alone, and somehow, no one approached her or tried to talk to her. So it was her own fault, that she didn’t have any friends. To be perfectly honest, she was a bit afraid. Afraid, that the others would not accept her as who she was, or that they wouldn’t want to put up with her awkwardness. She was a bit of a coward in this case, she knew it herself, but she didn’t know how to change that. She would just be awkward alone, probably for the rest of her life.

 

Shaun, on the other hand, had chosen his aloneness. Already in middle school, he had preferred sitting alone, eating alone and running through the school halls alone. Unfortunately, this sentiment had changed with the beginning of High School. Without knowing, what had convinced him otherwise, Shaun couldn’t stand the thought of being alone for the rest of his school career. 

However, he didn’t try to find friends. He knew most of the people in his classes, they also knew him, but he had never interacted with them, so he didn’t know where and how to proceed. Sometimes, Shaun thought Vax’ildan would be a good person to start with, but he always became terribly nervous seconds before addressing him, so he gave up on that idea pretty quickly. The only other person he would have talked to was Pike, the nice little girl that always hang around Grog, who was the reason Shaun didn’t even try. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was a little afraid of the jock.

His parents thought their son was very popular at school. That was only because he seemed to be a completely different person at home than at school, more self confident and, as he liked to think, glorious. He couldn’t say, why, it was a mystery, even for him.

So at school, he stayed alone, and at home, he was glorious alone, probably for the rest of his life.

 

Inevitably, the time for the first group project came, and both Shaun and Keyleth feared what would happen. Being the only ones that weren’t paired up with anyone else, the teacher put them together and let them figure out how to get along with each other. Shaun didn’t even know, who the girl sitting on the other side of the table was. She was new, shy and hadn’t talked a word to anyone. She was probably as alone as Shaun. Surprisingly, she was the one to break the silence.

“Hi, I,…, I’m Keyleth, nice to meet you”, she introduced herself quietly and looked at Shaun expectant and unsure.

“Shaun Gilmore. Nice to meet you, too”, he said, deciding to smile at the girl. She seemed to relax a bit and after some moments of silence, they started to talk about their project. That was the moment, everything changed for them. They spent time together, first, because of their homework, but then without any particular reason. They could be themselves around each other. Keyleth was awkward, of course, but she was also funny and adorable, and a good friend. Shaun started being more his true self, too. He stopped worrying about what others thought.

Soon, they were friends. They hadn’t even noticed the passage from strangers to acquaintances and finally to friends, it just sort of happened. They both needed it, they both couldn’t have been alone any longer. So they were together.


End file.
